Words, Words, and New Words!

Howdy folks!

 Things are going great here at the Jacob Household!  Every one of the Jacob kids is learning lots and lots of new and cool things. For me, the Elder Jacob Child the First Jr., I am becoming quite the learned scholar and stuff.  I've been excelling at this thing called Kindergarten.

The Things I'm Good at:

1) Math!  Both mommy and daddy failed big time when they both attempted to help me with my first math homework assignment.  There's this thing called Common Core (original name: Satan's Spawn), and this thing called Counters.  Welp, not to bore you with all the details. but two college educated adults (one of which was a math major for a whole semester) could not figure out that these Zeroes that I was drawing were Counters (as in, Things to Be Counted) and now they are worried about the future of our Math Society.

But I am doing really well in math!  I get 100s on my math tests and I've been adding up a storm.  And we now totally get Counters, even though they wish they were really rocks so they could throw it at Satan's Spawn.  So mom and dad can now pass Kindergarten Math. Good for them.

2) Reading!  I am doing pretty well with my reading!  I am becoming adept at Sounding Out Words, and I've been reading a book every night all by myself (with a little help from my friends).  I love my books!

3) Being Helpful!  I like to help my teacher with chores and I like to help my classmates with various activities.

The Things I'm Not Good At:

1) Waiting and Being Patient:  So, I guess I like being first in line, and I don't like it when Other Kids are first.  I guess I can be pushy and go like a Bat Out of Hell whenever it's Go Time for a Line.  Hey, some people may call it Being Pushy, but Mommy says that it's okay to tell people what to do at times, so I guess I am just using my Mom-Influenced Leadership Skills, aka, Being a Lawyer.  Funny thing is, I told Dad that I want to be a teacher like him when I grow up.  Dad just sighs and shakes his head.

2)  Fidgeting:  Sometimes I don't like Sitting Still.  Sometimes when it's Story Time I might be constantly moving and Disturbing Others.  However, I am still paying attention to Story Time and I do a good job of following the plot.  I now have a Pet Rock that I am allowed to have for story time so I can Focus My Fidgeting.  I've been doing better!

3)  Fighting and Arguing:  Kind of like #1.  It's been mostly silly boy stuff, and I've mostly been an Angel MOST of the time, but if you cross me, Mom-Influence might take over.  And dad, too. Don't mess with dad (he told me to add that).

Kara's Words:



Kara is our Little Jabber Box.  Kara does not like the sounds of silence, and she likes to constantly quiz you on, What's this?  She does this more as quizzing the other person than as a true question.  Because she likes to Talk Talk Talk with Words Words Words.  She likes to tell Bella, Lola, Will, Daddy, and Mommy what to do.  "Owie, take a bath."  "Lola, get down."  "Daddy, pick me up."  "Will, that's my sausage/food item/toy/whatever-you-have-that-I-didn't-really-want-before-but-now-you-have-it-so-I-do!"  "Bella, come here!"  "No mommy!  Don't comb my hair!"

Daddy accuses her of being bossy.  Her response?  First time: "Yeah, I'm bossy."  Second time: "I'm not bossy."  You see, she is the boss of her being bossy.

But even though she may be a Bossy Bosser, she is a very polite little girl.  She says Thank You and Please for just about everything, even when she's not prompted.  She asks people at Kroger to Excuse Me, which they find is funny, which encourages even more politeness. She just likes the attention.



Also, did you know that Kara has a baby in her belly?

Dad?  DAD?!!  (*takes the knives out of his hands*)

Whew!  Sorry, had to diffuse a situation for a sec.  No, she doesn't have an actual baby in her baby (sillies).  She just says it ALL THE TIME.  We think it's because she knows that Aunt Beka has a baby in her belly right now.  We don't know what Aunt Beka's baby will be, but Kara's baby is a boy or a girl (depending on the day), and it's constantly crying and needs a nap or a bottle. Something like that.

Kara also has lots of funny things that she says:

- Owen is saying bye to everyone, and then he says bye to Kara (at our house).  Kara's response: "I am not going bye-bye.  This is my home!" (very true, Kara)

-  Daddy to Owen: "Can you say, 'I have 2 airplanes?'"  Kara says: "Good job, daddy," as if Daddy is learning how to talk as well.

- "I am going potty now so change me," as she closes the door to the bathroom (she is still in diapers).



Owen's Words:

Out of all three Jacob Kids, Owie has made the Most Progress since we last spoke.  Like, Leaps and Bounds.  He has been seeing this nice lady named Charlotte about twice a month for his speech, and it has helped a ton.  When he first started in March, he had about 50 words that he could either say, sign, or just understand.  Today?  Like, over 300.  I think even more than that because that was a month ago when they sent home a What Words Does Owie Know Test.

But Owen loves hanging out with Charlotte.  It is just a fun play time where Charlotte has all of these cool toys and they just talk about what's going on.  The Bus goes... On The Table.  The car goes... Down the Slide.  He is getting to a point where he can repeat almost anything that you say.  His Enunciation may need some work, but that's okay.  He's just 2 and a half, so please just give Mr. Owie a little break, okay?

Owen LOVES music.  All three Jacob children love to listen to music, but Owie can be the most enthusiastic.  He loves and can sing most of the following: Jingle Bells, Wheels on the Bus (round-dee round), Twinkle Twinkle, Happy Birthday, Bob the Builder theme song, Crazy Shake from Umizoomi, Rescue Pack from Diego, and Go Cubs Go (Mom-Influenced, but Dad Approved).  Owen has the best little Hop, Skip, Jig Dance move, which he does for anything that he grooves to.

Funny things that Owie does:

- It is almost impossible to be mad at him.  Owie has a little devil inside of him (Mom-Influenced) occasionally, and you could talk to him in the most stern way possible.  Mom: "Owie, WE do NOT do THAT!"  Owie's response: "Hi."  Like, with a little smile and everything.  Man, this kid could rob a bank, cobs be chasing him, guns blazing, they'd corner him, and he'd say, "Hi."  And he'd be rich.

- During the last half hour of a 5 and a half hour drive: Mom, who was being Driven (ha ha) Insane: "No more candy corn. I've given everyone enough candy corn.  Stop saying candy corn."

Owie: "CANDY CORN!!!!!"



I swear, any one else says it, we'd throw him out of the car.  Owie can get away with anything.

- *Owie looks like he's having a seizure.*  "Are you okay, Ow...?"  Owie: "Zooooooom!"  He was just acting like an airplane.

-  Owie loves to count!  Every time we go down the steps, Owie counts.  He can count up to 20!  And, with help, he can go even higher!  Also, both Kara and Owie know their colors, numbers, letters, and shapes really well.

- Watch out!  If you're lying on the ground, just chillin' like a villain, Owie may attack!  Jumping up and down and up and down!  Kara will then join.  And then I do.  And then somebody needs to call a paramedic.

Overall, the twins and I are becoming better and better friends every day!  We are acting like any other siblings: fighting with each other, laughing with each other, playing with each other, and then fighting some more.

We hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Fantastic New Year!

-WDJ

We are All Growing Up!

Howdy Folks!

Did you know that in less than one month I will become an Official Big Kid?  That's right!  I am going to start kindergarten at St. Bernard's!  Can you believe how fast time has gone?  Mommy and daddy sure can't.  I am very super excited!  Mom just bought some new clothes for me.  Apparently I have to wear this thing called a Uniform that involves things like Buttoning and such.  I know I am Five Turning Six Soon, but I still need to work on Buttoning.  Yeesh.  The things you have to do to be an Official Big Kid.

Well, my summer has been pretty darn busy.  I've been to Soccer Camp, Dinosaur Camp, Jedi Camp, Bible School Camp, and Zoo Camp.  We also just came back from vacation in Michigan City, Indiana; and within a week I get to spend a week with Mimi and Papi in Peoria where I get to go to ANOTHER Bible Camp.  Hmmm.. I wonder if Mom and Dad are trying to tell me that it's important to learn stuff from the Bible.  I don't know...

Wait, what's that?  Enough about Will?  You didn't come here to read about Mr. Official Big Kid but the Tiny Little Twerps that I call my brother and sister?  Am I the third banana now or what?  (Don't answer that)

Kara Ba-Where-A

So Ms. Kare-Bear is becoming sillier and sillier by the day-hour-minute.  She likes to twirl around and go Woh-Woh-Woh, just for the heck of it. She will fall on her butt on purpose and say, Woopsie Daisies!  The other day Mom found Kara in her closet. She was standing in front of a full length mirror, shaking her booty back and forth and sticking her tongue out.  She was saying, Wiggle, wiggle!  Tpbsss!  Tpbsss!  Oh man, Kare-Bear, if only we could've recorded that for a future boyfriend.

Kara also does not believe you half the time and says, Are you kidding me?!  She also loves to say Happy Day! when it's someone's birthday, like the twins!  They just turned the big 2.0 on June 7.  Can you believe that?  We got celebrate their Happy Day quite a few times with them.  Kara got to celebrate with all of the seemingly hundreds of thousands of Baby Dolls that she has, but, even though it was a Happy Day, Kara's Baby Dolls are always sad and crying.   In the morning after Kara wakes up, she finds a Baby Doll, it's crying. At lunch, Kara shoves a mouthful of either Ham, Chicken Nuggets, or More Ham (and nothing else, mind you), and with her mouth filled with Name That Meat, her Baby Doll Cries.  If we're watching any one of her shows, Baby Doll cries.  Kara's Baby Dolls are somehow the most traumatized Baby Dolls on the planet.  We haven't figured out why or how, but those Baby Dolls need some Major Therapy.

Unfortunately, unlike the Baby Dolls, Kara has more than one mood.  In fact, she has three:  Sad (much like the Baby Dolls), Super Silly Happy, and Mad.  Kara has developed into quite the Drama Queen.  Ms. Kara likes to be Sad. Sometimes we know why (dog scratched her, Owen stole a toy), sometimes not.  Sometimes we can fix her crying by ALSO crying with her.  Nine times out of ten, Kara will stop crying to tell you to Be Happy.  Kara definitely has a future in being a hostess because she's very concerned if you're Happy or not. But if she's mad, very little can be done.  She will close her eyes to pretend that she can't see you.  Even when she's mad, she's silly.

Owie-Ba-Doh-Wee

Mr. Owen is doing much better with his talking and signing!  He's been going to a Speech Therapist about twice a month for the past three months, and he's showing some great signs of improvement!  He's getting better at this thing called Enunciation.  He is saying more words and he says them very clearly!  He said, "Hi Grandma!" the other day, and he likes to tell us that a giraffe has a "loooooong neck!"  Some of the signs that he has learned is Open, Go, Stop, Play, Up, and Down.  Not only can he say little phrases, he loves to sing!  We will catch him singing songs to himself just out of nowhere.  He sings Twinkle Twinkle, Wheels on the Bus, and Five Little Ducks.  He does the motions to the songs as well.  He's a smart little guy!  Kara is also a great singer and loves songs just as much.

Not only does Owen like to sing, but he LOVES to dance!  My little bro has some rhythm!  If he's listening to a song, he likes to bop his head up and down, side to side.  But when he dances, oh boy, he really gets into it.  I call it the Twinkle Toe Dance.  He moves one leg up on his Tippi Toe, and he kind of skips around the room.  Very cute!

Owen also loves his books very much!  He loves to pick out his favorite books and brings them over to Momma or Dadda.  However, Owen has learned how to say Gentle, because instead of handing the books nicely to us, he likes to throw them at you, and I mean a FASTBALL.  Yesterday he threw one and it hit Daddy's coffee cup filled with coffee.  Yikes!  To Owie's credit, he always gives us the book back gently after we give it back to him and tell him gentle.  

Kara and Owen

Blankets: Both Kara and Owen love their blankets.  We started calling Owen Linus because he sometimes carries his blanket around everywhere.  However, it's not so much that he loves to carry around a blanket, it's that he loves to carry around SOMETHING.  If it's not a blanket, it's usually a toy, most likely a car.  One of his favorite cars, however, can't really qualify as a car.  It's a truck, but... it has no wheels to it.  So he carries around a Truck With No Wheels, and he likes to make Room-Room sounds with it.  I'm sure when we go out and people see Owen with this Truck With No Wheels, they must think that he's a Red Headed Step Child or something.

Whereas Owen's blankets need to be Scratchy Face Blankets, Kara's blankets need to be Soft Monkey and 'Nana Blankets.  As you may be able to tell, they are Super Soft, and one has a monkey on it, and the other has lots of bananas.  She likes to rub the Soft Blankets on her face.

Playing: Kara and Owen have started playing more and more with each other.  Acting goofy. Playfully pushing each other.  Playing their own games of peek-a-boo.

Welp, that's about all that I have for your folks.  Hope everyone is doing great!

-WDJ

Springing into New Territory

Howdy folks,

How's everyone doing?  Welp, lots of things, lots of things with the Jacob Family.  And most of it is very good if not great!  Here's a run down of all the things that have been going on, starting off with the most important person of the bunch, Yours Truly!

Will

Well, I am officially off into the Big Boy Territory.  I just signed up for kindergarten at St. Bernard's.  I am really excited!  I already know a few people who will be in my class!  I am becoming more and more interested in doing "homework," i.e., practicing my letters, working on my reading, drawing cool pictures, etc.  I've become quite the artist.  I can even draw better than my Daddy (Dad says that he verifies this statement).  I also like asking people Tough Math Problems, like what's 100 + 100?  (It's 200)  Or some variation of that.  I like math!

I also decided to stop going to karate.  I had a nice run.  I did it for a whole year!  But it got a little repetitive for me and I'm looking forward to signing up for soccer and/or swimming lessons (which reminds Dad... get on the ball, yo!).

Some other fun things I got to do:

- The Art of the Brick: Lots and lots of cool Lego Art Stuff!  This was an Exhibit at the Museum Center.

- Chuck-E-Cheese with my friend Zach!  I only ask to go to Chuck-E-Cheese and/or Toys 'R' Us about every five minutes because those places are awesome!  And I love hanging out with my friend/neighbor Zach

In a couple of months I will have my last day at daycare!  I will be doing lots of fun camps, like a Star Wars Camp and a Zoo Camp.  Fun stuff!

Those are my cousins Gracie and Skylee at Mimi's 60th birthday party!

Kara

Miss Missy Miss is becoming quite the Diva, a Drama Queen, if you will.  Sometimes when she gets upset, she will throw herself on the ground, covering her face.  She also ONLY wants Momma. Well, this may be an exaggeration, but if there's a choice between Da-da and Momma, you better believe she's asking for Momma.  Dad has figuratively become Chop Liver (Mom and Dad had to explain to me what that means, and I agree, Dad = Chop Liver).

Kara has developed this giggle-laugh that is something of a cross between an Impish Devil or a Devilish Imp, depending on what shenanigans she is about to get into.  Oh, what kind of shenanigans can a Sweet Girl Who's Not Even Two get into?  I'm glad you asked.

KARA SHENANIGANS:
1)  Climbing on the couch and running around like a big goof.  
2)  Spitting/Zerbating in your face
3)  Touching the oven WHILE IT'S ON
4)  Asking Kara to come here, and then you hear the Impish Devil Laugh, and she runs away in the opposite direction, like a FULL SPRINT.
5)  Taking toys out of Owen's hands, pushing him to the side when he wants to do something that she wants to do.
6) Climbing on our Big Outside Playset...

Don't Tell Mommy, Mimi, Grandma, or the Authorities that Ms. Kara was up here!

I am 100% positive that I missed about a thousand other things, but then the blog would become War and Peace and Ulysses put together.

And you know what's the worst thing about all of these Kara Shenanigans?  You can't really yell at her.  If you do, she says "Hi" in the sweetest, friendliest way possibly, and gives you a kiss and  a hug.  When she does this, doing something bad and then forcing you not to be mad at her, she goes from simply being a Bad Girl to the Embodiment of Pure Evil, or just a really, really Mischievous Girl.

Kara's language is also developing pretty well. She is starting to put phrases together, like I got it!  I can do it!  More mac 'n' cheese. She also says big words like Octopus and Dinosaur.

Kara also LOVES to Co-lee (coloring), just like me.  I am a MUCH better at coloring, but I'm sure she will catch up.... NEVER!

Owen

Owie Be-Dough-wee is developing language skills, too!  He is finally saying more words.  He loves to say Knock Knock and goes up to just about anything that is solid and knocks on it.  He likes to say Night Night, Fly, Daddy, Ma-Ma.  But his favorite words now are Hi and Thank You!  Owie either has a future in politics (I hope not) or a host to a TV show.  He loves Working the Room. Wherever we go, Owie walks up to every random person that he can find and simply says, Hi.  Gives them a little wave of his hand.  And then occasionally gives them a kiss.  Owen is our Sneaky Kissy Kisser, a Kissing Bandit.  We will just be hanging out and Owie, prompted by nothing but his own sweet nature, will come up and give you a Quick Kiss and a smile and say Hi.

His other favorite thing to do is to say Thank You!  He has the most positive, enthusiastic way of thanking you, and he thanks you for everything.  He could thank you for blinking he loves thanking you so much.  It's hard to describe his Thank You, but it has a special cadence to it.  He stresses each word equally, and the second  almost becomes two syllables.  THANK yoooUUUU! He says it so enthusiastically.

However, even though Owen may be the "Angel Child" compared to the She-Devil of his sister, he also has his shenanigans:

OWEN SHENANIGANS:
1)  Runs around the couch like a big goof.  What is the deal with kids running arou-- Hi-Yah! Sorry, I just had to do a karate jump off the couch myself.  I guess it runs in the family.
2)  Pots and Pans.  I swear, Owen either wants to be a cook when he grows up, or he just wants to annoy the heck out of us.  He loves to open up a cabinet and take out whatever pot and pan he can find.  Kara does this as well but not to Owen's degree.
3)  The Dog Bowls.  Oh my good lord the Dog Bowls.  For whatever reason unbeknowst to us, Owen loves the Dog Bowls.  The food dish is just Okay Fascinating, but somehow the Water Bowl is Mega Fascinating.  Like, what the heck is so Mega Fascinating about the gosh darn Water Bowl?  We don't just stare and look at the thing.  We have to dip our hands in it repeatedly.  We have to dip toys into it.  We have to pick it up and dump out all the water.  AND OWEN DOES THIS NEARLY EVERY DAY.
4) And then there's the milk.  Owen is now only allowed to hold a cup for exactly the amount of time that he is drinking it.  If he holds it any longer than the drinking time, you're just asking for a ticking time bomb of Milk All Over the Floor. AND OWEN DOES THIS NEARLY EVERY DAY (just like the Dog Bowls... it's a good thing we like this kid...).

On a more positive note, both Kara and Owen love to read books.  Kara sometimes likes to read on her own.  She will open up a book, and just start jabbering away with her own language.  Owen likes to pick up a book and then places it in your lap when he wants to read.  However, even though Da-da teaches English and loves to read, he has his limits on reading the same book over and over.  The book in question is Lost Baby Duck.  Baby Duck has gotten lost (oh no!) so many times (they found him! Yay!), the Witness Protection Program is jealous.  Daddy says that he is going to have to call his friends Rocko and Biff to make sure that Baby Duck sleeps with the fishes.

Both Kara and Owen also LOVE playing outside, and the weather is now changing so that we can explore outside more!

Finally, Mommy and Daddy just got a surgery scheduled for Mr. Owen on May 25.  We're actually going to do a 2-for-1 all on one day!  (2 surgeries for the "price" of 1...  Daddy instructed me to use quotations there because he says that insurance companies are the Embodiment of Pure Evil, not Miss Kara, and there is no way on this Green Earth that we won't pay the full gosh darn price for the surgeries [editor's note: that was highly edited]).

Surgery #1: He has what is scientifically known as Goopy Eye.  It's about the best way to describe what he has.  He wakes up, and he has Goopy Eye.  Like, his eye sneezed and has eye boogers (gross!). Poor little guy.  When he wakes up, sometimes he can't open up one of his eyes because it's crusted over.  Gross!  Sorry for the overshare.  So the doctor is going to fix his tear duct to get rid of his Goopy Eye.

Surgery #2:  Owen will have a Little Tiny Tube placed in his right ear (the good one) to help drain it.  Poor little guy.  His left ear does not have an opening in it, AND the right one gets fluid, so he has Double Ear Trouble.  What's the deal, yo?  Is the Universe conspiring against this child or what?

 Speaking of his ear, we finally got his BaHa Hearing Aid down pat.  It's this little device that goes on a head band on his head.  Well, that little device can detached easily, and, well, you can only imagine what happens with our family. One Sunday we spent Three Hours looking for that thing.  I mean, this thing costs about 500 trips to Chuck-E-Cheese! (that's $10 a trip)  Long story short, we found it, and then we got this tiny little string/wire/plastic thing that we hooked onto the the Hearing Aid, which we can then clip on to his shirt.  It works great!  Now we don't have to worry about keeping the Hearing Aid on Owen when we leave the house.

So that's that, folks.  To send us off, here's our Second Annual St. Patty's Day Picture!  Let's see if we can keep this thing going!  (Kara doesn't seem like she wants to)

-WDJ

Christmas is Over! Whaaaaaaat?!

Who and What decided that Christmas can be over?  This is a crime against nature!  Against humanity!  Against little kids!  Against me in particular, William David Jacob!  How dare they take Christmas away! Call the police and give me back my Christmas!



Sorry...  I know, I was overreacting a bit there, folks.  I know it's been over two weeks since Christmas... BUT I STILL MISS CHRISTMAS!  You know, presents, cookies, candy, MORE presents, cool ninja stuff.  Sigh...



So, this is just slightly embarrassing, but I haven't written a blog since this summer.  It has been over half a year!  Half a year!  I really blame Daddy on this one here.  He is the Gate Keeper of the computer, and every time I wanted to write a blog post, he said that he's busy with "work" and his "livelihood."    He says that this is NOT (his emphasis) this thing called "pro-crass-tin-aaaa-shun," or something.  He calls it "trying to stay sane with my regular work."  Dad is just as bad as his big kids that he teaches.He just keeps making up excuses left and right.  He even tried to tell me that he couldn't look at a computer for fear of reading anything more about the Bengals (he needs to get over the Bengals and stop crying like a little girl.  Man up, boy!)...



Anyway, what in the heck has been going on in our lives?  A better question is, What the heck HASN'T gone on?  Looking back at the last journal entry, it was even before we had our summer Vay-Cay.  Wow.  I need to cover summer Vay-Cay all the way to Christmas?  You have GOT to be kidding me, Da-da.  Do I have to pull ALL the weight here?

Vay-Cay

For Vay-Cay, we got stay in the Big Green House in Michigan City, Indiana (not in Michigan, but, like, close).  We had fun.  We went swimming.  We played on the beach. We picked blueberries.  I mostly ate the blueberries.    We shot off A LOT of fireworks.  And it was the twins first Vay-Cay!  Daddy remembers spending half the time telling the babies to stop eating stuff off the floor, and the other half creating barriers with pillows and couches so that the babies could not break free and get lost in our house, which was the color green and HUGE.


We actually had two houses in our house (there were 19 people on our Vay-Cay... and now 21(!) next year).  I mean, it was really like one big mansion, but in the middle of the house was, like, the OUTSIDE with a grill, and then you'd keep walking, and there was MORE HOUSE, with, like, a whole 'nother kitchen and stuff.  I mean, we had two kitchens.  Two!  A boy like me can never have enough kitchens.  And... um, yeah... it's been six months, and now we're planning our NEXT Vay-Cay already, so give me a break here.  Your memory starts to go when you turn five, okay?  I did tell Mommy and Daddy that I would like to go back and live in the Green House again. I loved that place.

Twin Stuff

Kara and Owen have been getting bigger and bigger and saying and doing lots of cool stuff.  They are walking like maniacs.  Seriously, drunken maniacs, just toddling back and forth, swaying side to side, moving forward and back.  It's dizzying!  Daddy will put one of the twins down, look one way, and that darn baby is GONE, baby, GONE.  We all love songs and we dance to stuff on Youtube and Pandora all the time.  Kara is starting to become a T-Swift fan.  Just the other day she started singing to "Shake it Off" ("uh-huh") and "Bad Blood" ("hey!").  

Both Owen and Kara are really good with doing actions with the nursery songs that is popular with kids of their age.  They love to shake their finger and say No No to tell the monkeys that they shouldn't be jumping on their beds.  They both do a pretty faithful rendition of where their head, shoulder, knees, and toes are.  Kara is a pretty big fan of singing the ABCs.  She doesn't quite have the letters right, but she's getting there.  

Kara, being the girl of the twin group, is the talker of the two. She says TONS of things.  So much so that I won't be able to do it justice here: ma-ma, da-da, bye-bye, nan-na (bananas), Shellie (or an approximation of our nanny's name), Oh-weeee! (for Owen), up, go, down, Lola, happy, night-night, apple, see? (she asks that A LOT), ba-ba (for bottle), HI, and HELLO.  And LOTS more.  

Owen, on the other hand... he's the strong, silent type.  He is working on his communication skills.  He does sign language pretty well (so does Kara... man, she's going to be one of THOSE sisters, I know it!).  He can make the sign for "more" and "all done" and "ba ba."  He says things like "ma-ma" and "bye-bye" and "da-da."  Our doctors said that he is doing fine, and that they are not worried, but we just need to encourage him more and keep helping him out.  It also doesn't help when you ask Owen a question, and SOMEBODY ELSE WHOSE NAME I WON'T MENTION (Kara) has to butt in and say the answer before poor Owie can even try (she is sooooo that type of sister).  

Kara and Shellie!

That little Kara, she is a firecracker.  She 's VERY demanding about wanting her Ba-Ba when she wants her Ba-Ba.  She looks you straight in the eye and if you don't get her Ba-Ba right then and there it's like you just threw a puppy out the window.  And then at dinner time you can give her a whole heap of food, and in about 0.3 seconds, it's "more" "more" "more."  I JUST PUT FOOD ON YOUR PLATE, GIRL, CHILL OUT.  She has all this food and yet she says "more" "more" "more."  LET ME EAT IN PEACE.  

As you can can tell, Kara is a good eater.  Owen, God love him, is not.  We want this child to eat.  We want this child to grow.  He IS doing all of this, but he likes to make his Mommy and Daddy sweat it out.  Like, Hey Mom, Do you see this piece of food all nice and cut up?  Like, I like this food, right?  Well, I will this chew for, like, five minutes, and then spit it out and throw it on the floor for the doggies to eat.  And then I stand up in my chair and be like, I'm all done.  Dad is like, BOY, DO YOU WANT YOUR TWIN SISTER BENCH PRESSING YOUR BODY WEIGHT?  I mean, Dad is all for Girl Power and all that Jazz, BUT YOUR SISTER IS WINNING IN THE WEIGHT DEPARTMENT.  Not good, man, not good.  

Hey, but little Owie IS doing well.  He is taking his sleep medicine twice a day, and he takes it like a champ.  He has been off of those stupid nose hoses for half a year now and he's doing much better.  We will do another sleep study with him in the summer.  

Kara, health-wise, did have another breathing, "It's not an asthma attack but it kind of is" hospitalization sometime in the fall (Daddy doesn't feel like looking it up, but it happened, or it was a dream, he doesn't know anymore).  I mean, it was just a carbon copy of every other "not really asthma" attack.  Trouble breathing.  Incessant crying.  Sleepless night.  Rush to the doctor.  Doctor tells us to go to the hospital.  At least three doctors said that Kara is FOR SURE staying in the hospital at night.  And then, this nurse comes in. Asks Daddy what kind of flavor Popsicle Kara likes. Daddy looks at her like she has three heads (Let me just ask my 16 month old daughter who is just developing one word sentences what kind of flavor she likes).  Um, orange.  Orange is what she got. She sucked down on that thing like it was a Ba-Ba times a billion and three.  Daddy kids you not, she perked up immediately after that.  Like, she went from "I am miserable and I am crying all the time" to "let's bug daddy and goof off with him."  I mean, she did just have something like four consecutive albueterol treatments and they didn't give her a fifth one because of something called "too much drugs for a baby."  And then she was fine and we had to wait two hours for them to say that she was REALLY FINE and then they got to go home.  And stuff.  

Me and My Cousin Gracie

After that episode, we've just been super diligent with our Seal-y (a nebulizer treatment for her medicine), and whenever she gets a hint of a cold, we go from one medicine to the trifecta (three different medicines all at once, twice a day, for 48 hours. Fun!).  So far (knock on lots of wood), so good.  

Well, I'm sure there's stuff that I'm missing.  But it's waaaaay past my bedtime. Daddy's giving me the stink eye.  He has to WORK tomorrow. Soooorrrr-REEE!   I love everyone!  Peace out!

-WDJ

Holy Moly! The Twins are One!

It is going to be difficult for the Jacob family to wrap our collective minds around this fact, but it's been 365 days since the twins were born!  Outside of Man Walking on the Moon, Jesus Being Born, and the Invention of Candy Bars, there are only a few things more amazing in the history of the world.

How did the Jacob family survive 12 months of the Twinado?  How did we combat all that Twinitude?

Frankly?  No idea.  Really.  None.  Zero. Zippo.  Nadda.  We still exist and the twins are still here. That's about all we know.

Missy Miss Kara

So what's been going on?  Well, as our luck would have it, we had ANOTHER trip to the hospital in May with Miss Kara.  That brings the Jacob Family to Five Hospital Visits in the Five Months of 2015. One more visit and we get...  a Hot Cup of Jack Squat!

What the heck happened?  Well, you could Xerox copy the last two times Kara has been in the hospital, put it in the binder, and say, Here you go: More coughing, more heavy breathing, Mommy taking Kara to the hospital and spending the night there.  The next day Daddy tag teams with Mom so she can go to work.  Thankfully, Kara got better and they released her by 10:00 p.m. that evening, which made it for a loooong day for everyone involved.  She probably had bronchiolitis again, or at least some kind of viral infection.  Whatever it was, we are now giving her more breathing treatments to help her out, and we are afraid that she may have asthma, but since she is so young, they can't test her until she is two years old.  So for now we just have to keep giving her the Breathing Treatments.

But she's doing better now and her Cough Cough is doing okay.

Other New Kara Developments:

- She is NOT crawling yet, but she is SuperClose.

- She can make the sound of a snake (SSSSSSS) and the panting of a Doggy. She also likes to make the roar of a Lion/Monster.  She thinks that's hilarious!  She also can says "Lola" in the exact same way that Mommy and Daddy say it when it's dinner time and Lola keeps trying to snarf the babies' food.  She also tries to say Larrrrrrrr-eeee, which is a cartoon parrot that she watches all the time on the Baby Channel (Vocabu-Larry).

- Songs and Kara:  Have you ever heard of "Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond?  Well, we have a new song for Kara sung to that tune: Grooosss Kara Jacob!  Gross Gross Gross!  You have never been so gross!!!!  So gross!  So gross! So Gross!  Believe it or not, between the two twins, Kara is the grosser of the two.  At dinner time, whatever the babies are having, Kara is the one who gets it EVERYWHERE that she can possibly get it, including all over her hair and in her shirt (and her mouth as well).  One time Mommy cut her up some grapes and half of them ended up in her Onesie. It's not that Owen is Mr. Clean, either.  It's just she's THAT gross.

 Kara's favorite song is "All about the Bass" by Meghan Trainor.  It's on a commercial for a diaper company, and whenever it comes on she looks at you, smiles broadly, and starts grooving in her spot.  In fact, she loves lots of different songs, and she'll just groove her little ("little") butt on the ground when she hears a song that she knows.  It's cute!

Kara is now about 22 pounds!

Mr. Owie

No more Cannulas!  No more daily oxygen!  No more silly machines to be hooked up to at night!  Mr. Owie is off oxygen!  After Owen had his Surgery to fix his Skin Tags and Stuff, we took him off his oxygen at night because he had all of these Ow-wees on his face, and the Cannula was not going to help out.  Once his Ow-wees healed up, we tried it again and... Well, Owen did not take too kindly to the Cannula hat.  It got to a point where he was getting less sleep BECAUSE of the oxygen, which is the opposite of what is supposed to be happening. Thankfully, the doctors decided that, yeah, trying to convince a nearly one-year-old child to keep a Cannula on at night... well, that's just not going to work.

So now he just has to this medicine that tells his brain, Hey, Brain, you need to sleep more.  Man, those science guys can think of lots of crazy things.

Other Owen Developments:

- Owen is now a Champion Crawler!  Owen went from Not Crawling, to Crawling Backwards Really Slowly, to Holy Crap He's Crawling Fast in, like, 0 to 60, or something.  Whatever it was, it was fast, and He's Fast.  Like, put him down in one spot, look away, and HE'S GONE.  I mean, Where the heck did he just go, GONE.  If you see a baby scooting down the highway like a madman, please send him back to Stoney Ridge Drive. That's where we live.

Owen is also climbing up on things and standing up.  He is Mr. On the Go!

- Owen is finally saying more things!  He's saying, Ma ma ma ma ma, yeah, yeah, yeah, rah, rah, rah.

- He thinks Sharks that Squeak are pretty hilarious.  If you think about it, that is pretty crazy!

- Owen is now about 20 pounds!  He is now finally getting a little chubby!  Yay! We can fatten a baby up!  It only took us a full year, but we got it.

ME!  William Jacob!  

I had a Test in Karate and I passed it!  Now I have a Purple Belt!  Watch out!  Hi-yah!

This summer I will be taking a break for Day Care.  What am I going to do instead? Lots of things!  Including:

- Hanging out with Dad and learning how to ride my bike, tying my shoes, etc.

- Going to Zoo Camp for a Week!  I get to feed the animals and do lots of cool stuff!

-  Reading class for pre-schoolers!  It's going to be once a week for a couple months.

- Spending a week at Mimi and Papi's without Mom and Dad!

- Spending a few days with my cousin Ron in Columbus. We are going to this cool place called COSI in Columbus, which is a cool science museum with lots of things to do and discover.  It's going to be fun!

- Going on vacation with Mommy's family in Michigan City, Indiana for a whole week.  I've been asking every other week when we can go on vacation again because it's been FOREVER since we've gone.  I mean, my life has been pretty stressful with taking care of all these babies.  I mean, sure, Mom and Dad help out, but we all know who's REALLY in charge around here (mom).

Hope all is well for everyone!  Cross your fingers for no more hospital trips for anyone in the Jacob family (or anyone else)!

-WDJ